Panda Li and the Message in a Bottle

A long time had passed since Li returned to his home island after his last adventure. He was still a young panda bear, but in the meantime he’d become a bit more experienced and even more courageous than before.

He had also changed externally, getting much bigger and stronger. In addition, hardly anyone made fun of his longer right ear anymore, because it was simply a part of his appearance that made him unique. Li was more and more confident as a panda bear.

At that time, it was winter on the island. Although one hardly noticed it here, where Li lived with his family. Of course, there was no snow, and it was still quite hot outside. However, it rained more often than at other times of the year. Sometimes it even rained all day long. 

Then it poured, as if from buckets, completely soaking you in a few moments. These strong storms were also rougher than they were in the summer. Afterwards, there would be a great deal of driftwood lying on the beach and palm trees and bamboo stems bent over as if they were mere matchsticks.

Sometimes, Li remembered his involuntary adventure upon seeing this, which always drove him out into the open ocean in an old boat.

He always thought back fondly to his friends from the faraway island who had welcomed him so warmly back then and helped him find his home again.

On this Sunday, for once, it was not stormy or raining. The sun was even peeking through the thick cloud cover from time to time.

Li played on the beach with his bamboo sticks as he did every day. Afterwards, he sat down in the sand and looked dreamily at the sea. The water and the sound of the waves calmed him a lot.

He squinted his eyes for a moment… had he seen that right? There was something swimming toward him near the shore. He quickly rose and dashed very close to the water. Sure enough, he now clearly saw an object moving up and down on a large wave.